Always Welcome Here
by charmed4lifekaren
Summary: Post 3x21. After finding out about Roy Thea doesn't want to be alone so she goes to someone who has always been there for her, someone she's always counted on, Laurel.


**Always Welcome Here**

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything. Everything belongs to their rightful owners.

 **AN1:** So after the last few Arrow eps I realised that I needed some bonding between Thea and Laurel, they are basically sisters after all so I wrote this. This is my first time writing for Arrow so let me know what you think.

* * *

After not being able to handle sitting alone in the dinner any longer Laurel headed home after not even eating a bite. A year ago everything she is feeling and everything that has happened would be enough to cause Laurel to start drinking or to pop some pills so that she didn't have to feel what she is feeling, but now Laurel knows that that's not the right choice, it won't really help, but it doesn't stop it from being tempting.

As she arrives home Laurel realises that the last thing she wants is to spend time in an empty, cold apartment, but the second she unlocks her door she realises that it's not quite as empty as she expected it to be as she can tell that there is someone inside. So grabbing a baton hidden by her door (a suggestion from Nyssa) Laurel turns on the light and enters her apartment preparing herself for a fight but Laurel is surprised when she finds Thea sitting on her couch her legs up against her chest.

"Thea?" Laurel says surprised, putting the baton down on the table, and walking over to her, "What are you doing here?"

"I….I'm not sure." Thea admits, sounding less sure of herself than Laurel has heard in a while, In fact she seems so much younger than she is, "I couldn't stay at the loft anymore, so I started walking and I found myself here." Thea explains as Laurel sits down, "I let myself in, I hope you don't mind."

"No, it's fine. You're always welcome here." Laurel assures Thea, "Do you want to talk?" Laurel asks, wanting to do whatever she can to help the young woman who she has watched grow up, who she has always seen as a little sister.

"Roy's alive." Thea reveals to Laurel's surprises as she wasn't aware of that, though she had her suspicions, "You didn't know." Thea realises, being able to tell by the look on Laurel's face as even though Laurel has gotten better at hiding what she is feeling she still has a long way to go.

"No I didn't." Laurel confirms, "I thought there was something Felicity and Diggle weren't saying but with everything else going on I didn't push." She admits.

"They keep a lot from you, don't they?" Thea asks as it is something that she has noticed in the past few months.

"Yeah." Laurel confirms, that would have once been something she would have lied about to protect Thea as she knows that Thea has started bonding with Diggle and Felicity but everything that she has learnt in the past few months, everything that AA has taught her is telling her that that's not a good idea.

"That's not right." Thea comments, a hint of anger to her voice.

"No. It's not." Laurel confirms leaning back against the couch. Even with everything that is going on it feels nice to talk to someone who understands as both she and Thea have had a lot of things kept from them, from the same people, for the same reasons.

"Felicity gave me information about Roy's new identity. I appreciate that and that she was trying to help by telling me what she thinks Ollie would want for me, but I don't know her, and she doesn't know me and she's acting like we're best friends, it's wired." Thea admits as one day she can see herself being friends with felicity but that days not now.

"That's who Felicity is." Laurel says, understanding where Thea is coming from but also understanding what Felicity was trying to do, "She's doing what she thinks Ollie would want her to do."

"I know, I get it." Thea admits, "Doesn't stop it from feeling odd though."

"That's understandable." Laurel says and the two of them drift into silence.

"I don't know what to do." Thea admits after a couple of minutes of silence, "What should I do?" she ask Thea as even if she hasn't always shown it she does value Laurel's opinion, she always has.

"I can't answer that." Laurel says, "You've got to make this decision for yourself Speedy, do what you want to do and don't let anyone tell you that you're making the wrong choice. It's your life, do what you want."

"I don't know what I want." Thea admits, "I want to go see Roy, but I also want to stay here and help you get Ollie back and help protect the city." She reveals, honestly Laurel isn't at all surprised by Thea's words and even though her big sister instincts are telling her to protect Thea she knows that she can't stop her and that if she tired she would be a hypocrite, so she's not going to.

"There's nothing that says you can't do everything." Laurel tells Thea, "You can go see Roy and come back and help with Ollie and protect the city if that's what you want, but Speedy you've got to make sure that you're making this decision for yourself, that you're not deciding to do something just because you think it's what Ollie, or anyone else, would want you to do. You have to make this decision for you." Laurel explains.

"Thank you, Laurel." Thea says before hugging her, appreciating the advice as Laurel is the first person to tell her to make the decision for her rather than making a decision because it is what someone else would want.

"You're welcome." Laurel says returning the hug and realising that for the first time in while she once more knows what it feels like to be hugged by a sister.

"Do you think we can get him back?" Thea asks as she and Laurel break apart.

"I honestly don't know." Laurel says, "When I saw him on that rooftop for the first time I didn't recognize him, this is someone I've known most of my life, and I didn't recognize him." Laurel says, trying not to get upset, "So I don't know if we're going to be able to save him Thea, but what I do know is that whenever I can I'm going to make sure he doesn't do anything he will hate himself for if we do." Laurel explains and Thea puts her arm around Laurel, being able to tell how much she is hurting though she is trying to be strong.

"You know one of my earliest memories is of you, and Ollie, and Tommy." Thea says, a sadness to her voice, "I think I was maybe three, you guys were babysitting me." Thea explains, "I don't remember much, but I remember laughing and you picking me up, running, and saying that we have to stick together, I don't remember why though." Thea says trailing off, trying to remember.

"Ollie and Tommy had started a pillow fight." Laurel explains, remembering what Thea is talking about, "I don't think you realised what was going on but you hit Tommy and he and Ollie declared war on us so I picked you up and ran to find more pillows to throw back at them." Laurel explains, both sadness and joy in her voice.

"Did we win?" Thea asks curious.

"No. Ollie broke a lamp so we decided to go outside I think we ended up playing in the grounds until Mom came and picked me up." Laurel explains and Thea nods.

"I miss that." Thea says, "Me, you, Ollie, Tommy, Sara, the way things once were." Thea says, looking over at the picture of Sara and Laurel that Laurel has, and thinking about how close the five of them once were and how much she blames herself for taking Sara away from them, and how much she misses Tommy, and now Oliver.

"Me too." Laurel says, it being clear that both of them are becoming quite sad as they think about everything that have lost, "But I know that we'll always have those memories. Well always have what we were, and Thea you and me will always be sisters, no matter what." Laurel says, realising that with everything that is going on with her father, Sara and Tommy being dead, and her mother and Oliver being gone that Thea is basically her only family.

"I know we will." Thea responds getting an idea but knowing that it's not the best time to bring it up, so instead she asks, "Do you mind if I stay tonight? I really don't want to go back to the loft."

"Of course you can stay. I meant it when I said you're always welcome."

"Thanks. I'll take the couch."

"No, you're going to take the bed, you need rest more than me."

"How about we share." Thea suggests, knowing that it wouldn't be the first time as unknown to Oliver or Quieten or anyone but Moira and Tommy after the Gambit went down Thea went to Laurel's a lot and she slept over and together they both mourned the loss of their siblings.

"Deal." Laurel responds, "Have you eaten?" She asks concerned.

"No. I wasn't hungry, you?" Thea ask.

"I tried, but I couldn't." Laurel admits, "I can order us something if you would like."

"No, it's okay. I don't think I could eat if I tried." Thea admits.

"Yeah, that's where I am." Laurel admits, "I don't know what to do next, I don't know if I can sleep right now." Laurel admits, doing so because she suspects that Thea is feeling the same so it could help her to know that she isn't alone in what she is feeling.

"We could go out and beat up some bad guys." Thea jokingly suggests, "Roy always said that it was therapeutic." She explains.

"It can be." Laurel admits, actually starting to consider it.

"Well then why don't we?" Thea asks, realising that even though it was a joke suggestion it seems like a good idea, "We could go out, beat up on some guys then come back here and relive a few of the movie nights you and Sara invited me too." Thea suggests.

"I'll get my gear." Laurel says with a smile standing up and heading towards her room.

"Laurel." Thea says, also standing up and Laurel turns a back around and faces her, "Thanks for not handling me, for being honest."

"You're welcome." Laurel says, "I may worry about you doing this with me, or doing it alone, but I know what it's like to have no one believing in you and having everyone think that you can't do it so I need you to know that I believe in you Speedy, I will always believe in you, I know you can do this." Laurel tells her, telling Thea what she wishes she was told, "But that doesn't mean I'm not going to do what I can to protect you, you're still my little sister and I don't want to see you hurt, got it?"

"Got it." Thea responds giving Laurel a grin which she returns, Thea knowing that she is going to protect Laurel like she will protect her that she won't let her get hurt.

* * *

After spending several hours beating up on and putting arrows into bad guys Laurel and Thea head back to Laurel's place where they lay side by side in Laurel's bed and start to watch old movies, neither of them managing to stay awake for more than ten minutes into the movie.

Because of their exhaustion both Thea and Laurel are still both fast asleep when the news reports about the Women in Black and the Girl in the Hood start to surface. If they were awake they would be amused by the speculation that is going on, though they both know that the speculation will continue as neither of them plan to stop protecting the city any time soon, no matter what anyone else says.


End file.
